Potholes or Potties?

So once again Amherst town officials hoodwinked the Gazette. Today’s editorial effort (one of three, so I guess it would constitute an editorial lite) regarding the pothole situation in overly enlightened Amherst seems to have bought hook line and sinker the prospect that the town actually ran out of money in the pothole repair budget and as a result let most of the town resemble the Navy Vieques testing range.

The REAL STORY is the DPW was kept busy in the downtown this spring constructing a sidewalk and is STILL preoccupied at South Amherst’s Groff Park “comfort station” (outhouse, potty place, bathroom, restroom, toilet).

Most cities and towns in Massachusetts contract out those kinds of construction projects to the private sector freeing up the public DPW to concentrate on more basic services like potholes, water/sewer repair, and pruning trees.

When the town manager informed the Select board on May 31’st that the hot patch budget had gone ice cold we were still in FY07 and last year at the start of FY07 with no talk of an Override the last thing anyone worried about was potholes or snow and ice removal (another prime DPW function).

So the failure of the Override at the May 1’st Special Election, that cost taxpayers $12,000…enough to fill all the potholes in town on May 2’nd, is clearly connected; like two BIG DOTS (or potholes).
##################################################################################

Daily Hampshire Gazette Friday, June 29, 2007
In Our Opinion: Worth noting
In a financial rut
There's been a lot of talk about the problems towns and cities in Massachusetts are having tending to their basic responsibilities because of tight budgets and inadequate state aid. One good example occurred recently in Amherst, which had to cobble together money from different accounts simply to fix the numerous potholes in town.

It first appeared that Amherst might not have sufficient money in its pothole fund to smooth out the city's roads. The problem was averted, though, when Guilford Mooring, the city's superintendent of public works, said he had discovered additional money for road improvements in some capital accounts.

The problem is that money won't always be waiting, tucked away in other accounts, the next time the road repair budget runs dry in Amherst. The problem isn't limited to Amherst, either; other communities in the Pioneer Valley have found it difficult in recent years to come up with sufficient funding to pay for road projects.

A reliable road system is essential for economic development. Road maintenance will continue to pose a challenge as residential and commercial development continues throughout the Valley. Even the state is facing a pinch; it's estimated that Massachusetts faces a nearly $20 billion shortfall for roads, bridges and other transportation projects across the state.

Former New York Sen. Alfonse D'Amato used to jokingly call himself "Senator Pothole" - a reference to the importance of tending to the basic concerns of local communities, such as road improvements. It's clear there's something wrong when the state and local communities cannot tend to such basic responsibilities as road repairs. This is a conversation that's long overdue. Amherst may have been lucky this time around in finding the additional money for road repairs, but it would be a mistake for anyone to assume this problem is just going to fix itself.

Safe for Democracy?

The last lonely potholes in Amherst were filled yesterday—the DPW access road-- thus making the town safe for summer travel. But the brawny town manager cautions that the road ahead (FY08 starts July 1), because of lean budgets, could be a tad bumpy.

So perhaps if we have a bad winter and the DPW “snow and ice removal” budget is expended (as routinely occurs with even a moderate winter) they can just sit back and let Mother Nature bury the roads in white.

After all, they have to come up with something to show that the May 1’st Override failure will result in pain.

Maybe have the cops only respond to three-out-of-four 911 calls. Dispatch could deliver the message to the unlucky 4’th caller “Sorry but our emergency staff are all tied up, please call back later and maybe you will be the lucky winner.”

What the heck, most of the fire calls are false alarms. Responding to three-out-of-five should catch most of the real ones.

I suppose you could shut down Town Hall one day during the business week, but they pretty much do that anyway when the weather is nice. It’s called Friday.

Hell, by any other name...

As we approach that Rockwellian summer holiday celebrating the birth of our great nation a tiny island that once loomed large in the never-ending war to keep Americans free has popped up in the news again.

Japan reinstituted the name Iwo To, as it was originally called before Japanese officers mistakenly called it Iwo Jima. Either way, the almost 7,000 marines who died there in some of the most Hellish fighting of the war are still dead (as are the almost 21,000 Japanese defenders.)

US military personnel are currently searching the island for the remains of Sgt. Bill Genaust a marine cameraman who also captured that iconic (second) flag raising on Mount Suribachi and like almost half the men involved in either flag raising, failed to survive the battle.

Unlike civilian AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, who snapped the famous still photo, Genaust was a marine who also carried a rifle. And when things got tough he chose the rifle over the movie camera. Days after the Mount Suribachi triumph, with the battle still in doubt, he used his camera light to help fellow marines peer into a cave. He was killed and his body never recovered. The cave forgotten…until now.

And Charles Lindberg (not the aviator) died Sunday. He was one of the marines who helped raise the first flag on Mount Suribachi.

Although smaller than the more famous second raising it was nevertheless visible enough to marines hunkered down on the beach and navy ships off shore to set off a cacophony of celebratory cheers, whistles and horns--until the enemy counterattacked.

The men may have perished back then or just now, but their spirit lives on forever. Semper Fi.

Going down with the ship.

Okay, back from international intrigue to the mundane. Just to demonstrate how selfless our DPW is, they filled potholes all over town last week but didn’t get the one in the middle of their own access road (that I share).

July 1’st, the start of the new fiscal year, is almost here. It also marks the Town Manager’s one-year employment anniversary. Guess I can’t call him a “rookie” anymore.

How soon we forget

So did you read the paper today—hardcopy or Internet? Notice anything missing? I usually scan 3 or 4 per day, and today--only 96 hours post mortem--not a mention of the catastrophic South Carolina inferno that snuffed out the lives of nine firefighters.

Hard to believe just seven-and-a-half years ago the media for days and days on end covered the stunning tragedy of Worcester’s “building from Hell” where a half-dozen firefighters paid the ultimate price for simply doing their job.

I was in the control room of Springfield’s Ch. 40 TV as they covered live the funeral ceremony with Senator Kennedy orating better than I have ever heard him speak.

Dave Madson, forever anchor and as good as they come...lost it. He choked up, his voice cracked. Reminiscent of Walter Cronkite, the “most trusted man in America,” gulping as he announced live to millions of anxious Americans that President Kennedy is dead.

Of course it has everything to do with 9/11, where we lost 343 firefighters. And that’s the #1 problem with terrorism. To get the media’s undivided long-term attention they have to break a record, to do the unthinkable, to bring about devastation so catastrophic we can’t even compare it to previous tragic events.

On that awful, awful morning I declared to my long-time business partner that this day, 9/11, would be most historical day of our life. And now, five and half years later, every night I pray that prediction holds.
##################################################################################

UPDATE: (one hour after original post):

Yes folks, that first comment (exactly 15 minutes after initial upload) originated from Ankara, Turkey. And he used the Blogger search to find me, so he probably punched in "9/11".

UPDATE #2 (Saturday morning). Well at least the Springfield Republican had a Front Page story today about the fire and the Daily Hampshire Gazette as well, although not as prominently located. No further word from my philosopher friend in the Mid East.

UPDATE #3 (later Saturday morning). DUH! All I had to do was click on his comment and it lead me to his blogger web page. Note video of "assassin America".
http://davutkurkut.blogspot.com/

UPDATE #4 (Sunday morning). I was not the only blogger Mr. Kurkut visited and left behind his Koran calling card. I noticed a comment on his most recent blog post in Turkey from a Canadian blogger, so I also left one. I'll see your scripture and raise you Shakespeare.

Amherst TM Sopranos Finish

Hey if Hillary Clinton can cash in on popular culture (and we know what a hip lady she is), so can I.





But seriously—and it was hard to take Mr. O’Connor and his “Dark Sky” initiative seriously—at least Town Meeting pulled the plug on this article that would have slapped businesses with $100 per day fines for shedding light after hours.

The Select Board tried to compromise and have the article referred back to the Town Manager but (off duty) Prosecutor Rich Morse pointed out our $125,000 a year Town Manager does not have unlimited time; after all, he has a golf course to revive and he doesn’t work on Bunker Hill Day.

Mr. O’Connor also had his ‘kill the Amherst Redevelopment Authority’ article dismissed by an overwhelming vote. I’m not keeping score, but I don’t think Vince has had a single success this Town Meeting.

The scary thing about Dark Sky is that, in this overly enlightened town, it’s the kind of weirdness that could easily pass. And then what’s next, a fine for driving SUV’s?

In China when the temperature is under 45 degrees and you walk the streets with your newly adopted daughter, it seems no matter how warm you dress her old women will come up and suggest with hand signals that she could use another layer.

Well intentioned for sure. But when government starts acting like overly concerned grandmothers…

The Squeaky Wheel (or broken front axle)

So after the Town Manager told the Select board on May 31’st that the potholes would simply have to wait until July 1 (start of the new fiscal year) because of budget constraints and even after Finance Committee Vice Chair Brian Morton reaffirmed that travesty to Town Meeting last week, suddenly, mysteriously the potholes on Hulst Road—after Taxpayers for Responsible Change Chair Stan Gawle declared it the worst road in Amherst—are filled.

A particularly irate resident of that neglected street called DPW chief Guilford Mooring and suggested the neglect could be political (as in payback for the Override failure). He again heard profuse apologies and was assured that it was not political, and it was strictly one of those routine budget things. A few hours later Mr. Mooring called the resident back and said the potholes would be done on Monday.









UPDATE:

I sent the following message out over the Town Meeting listserve (about 100 subscribers):

So either the DPW found some money in the sofa or little elves came out of the woods one night to make Hulst Road recognizable as a road. About time!

Select Man Kusner responded within minutes:

In a message dated 6/20/07 10:17:35 AM, robkusner@gmail.com writes:

You're welcome....

UPDATE#2 (2:00 pm) Terry Franklin gets funny line of the day award:

“… or little elves came out of the woods”

robkusner@gmail.com writes:
You're welcome....

From: Terry Franklin
Rob, I always did figure you for an elf.

UPDATE #3 (2:15 pm) The Gazette is paying attention:
June 20, 2007
South Amherst potholes filled after numerous complaints from residents
Posted At : 12:50 PM | Posted By : newsroom
Related Categories: Amherst, News
AMHERST - Town officials have responded to complaints voiced in the Gazette last week about potholes in South Amherst.

Public Works crews were on Hulst Road, South East Street and Station Road on Monday and Tuesday filling in the holes in the pavement with asphalt, said Superintendent Guilford Mooring. He said last week there was no money in the budget for the work.

"There was some money left in the capital accounts that we thought was all spent," he said. "It showed up when we were ready to close the books for the (fiscal) year."

He encouraged residents to call 259-3050 to report potholes.

"Hopefully, we'll get all caught up and get back to the routine of doing potholes when they're called in," Mooring said.

--NICK GRABBE

Read more about the pothole situation in Friday's Gazette and on gazettenet.com and amherstbulletin.com.